This is demonstrated in the text “Those who had before known her, and had expected to behold her dimmed and obscured by a disastrous cloud, were astonished, and even startled, to perceive how her beauty shone out, and made a halo of the misfortune and ignomity in which she was enveloped” (40). The letter might be a sign of sin to Hester and the Puritan village, but Pearl sees it as something else entirely. The scarlet letter is both a part and a connection to her mother, for they both are the physical manifestations of Hester’s wrongdoing. After Hester takes of the letter, Pearl refuses to come to her. She refuses to recognize her mother, only coming to her after the “A” has returned to her mother’s bosom.
Dimmesdale’s sin was not adultery but not having the courage to admit that he had adulterated. But Pearl provided Dimmesdale the harshest text, and most penetrating judgment of his failure to admit to his adultery. He was painful in his heart and suffered from his conscience and his brief. Pearl was just
“For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened” (Romans 1:21). Scriptures says, “For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator…For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the
As the community’s priest, he is more of a symbol than a human being. Other than Chillingworth, those around the minister ignore his anguish, viewing it as holiness. Dimmesdale never really sees the truth of what Hester has learned: that "individuality and strength are gained by quiet self-assertion and by a reconfiguration, not a rejection, of one’s assigned identity". Symbolism is the applied use of any iconic representations, which carry particular conventional meanings. Within The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne incorporates symbolism to expose a deeper meaning in the story.
The problem was a damned if she does and damned if she does not. This accusation of a woman being a witch meant that “their feminine souls made an explicit and aggressive choice to conjoin with the devil” (Reis, 94). Puritans believed they were not just manipulated by Satan, they willingly desired to be possessed by him. This was aggressive stance most Puritan men had towards Puritan women. Satan could get to their soul through their body because it was weak.
He was able to understand that denying Elinor, his wife, of physical intimacy was an inapt thing to do ‘And now it seems that there is no God, and I was wrong.’ He also grasped that he should not have relied on God through the days of the Plague, ‘…I thought I spoke for God. Fool. My whole life… has been based
I believe these conflicts are the 'norm' people's fault because they are the ones who are not accepting others as they are. As well as, some are not standing up to say what should be done about the people who are being evil, and criticizing others, while they are not perfect to begin with, either. Their theories developed from the experiences of Man, particularly from his tribulation. The Waknuk people are insecure about themselves; therefore, they use God as an excuse for their persecution of the deviates. Joseph Strorm is one of these hippocrates who does not believe in the rights of the deviations, who had forced his sister, Harriet, to basically never to come in contact with him because she had a deviation of her own.
Morrie always emphasized the value of family and love, while King Lear saw these as trivial pursuits which at best can be used to elevate his ego. Morrie was disappointed by the way things were in his society, while initially King Lear did not care too much for it and accepted it. Morrie viewed death as completely natural and even an ideal way to live, while King Lear still wanted to live the life of a king despite dividing his land between his daughters. Despite being very different in both character and beliefs initially, both King Lear and Morrie came to acquire true wisdom by experiencing a fact of life which we regard as a phenomena; death. Both these wise men once differed in values when it came to life.
Divine/Natural Law vs. Human Law If it hadn’t been for Creon’s law that no one could or should bury Polyneices, Antigone’s brother, there would have been no story for Antigone. This provided the theme of the contest between divine law and human law. Natural law states that there are standards for right and wrong that are more fundamental and universal than the laws of any particular society, or human law. Creon showed that he had no concern for divine law when he proved his inhumanity by declaring that Polyneices would receive no burial because he was a “traitor” of Thebes. Antigone, on the other hand, has what Creon lacks.
However much we may want others to be transparent, it is impossible because everyone wears a veil. In this case the veil is a symbol for hidden guilt. There is a reality of personal evil and the veil stands in for man’s hypocrisy. Mr. Hooper says, “if I cover it for secret sin, what mortal might not do the same?” Mr. Hooper believed that everyone had secret sin and should thus wear a veil. Mr. Hooper may be said to be a moral prophet who shows by example the reality of men.